Bank governor Carney seeks Cryptocurrency regulatation ahead

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin should be regulated in the future, the governor of the Bank of England has told Sky News.

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Mark Carney said: "There are a number of problems with cryptocurrencies. They are small now but they are getting bigger.

"We will talk about them at the G20 meeting and we are talking about them now in the Bank of England. The Financial Policy Committee is looking at the risks to financial stability.

"There are issues for authorities who deal with money laundering, terrorist financing and price fixing. There have been a number of incidents of theft - not just big crimes but also steady thefts from people's wallets.

"The operational standards of these currencies are nowhere near where they need to be."

When I asked him whether we will see cryptocurrencies being regulated, he answered: "You will - they will be regulated in my view."

Mr Carney agreed that the growth of cryptocurrencies had followed the pattern of previous financial bubbles.

He said: "It has all the hallmarks of a bubble. And normally they end with a pretty brutal reckoning," adding that the idea that Bitcoin would ever be used as a replacement mainstream currency was "an impossibly high bar".

But Mr Carney said the blockchain technology that has been developed in parallel with new currencies was "exciting and interesting".